LeBron vs Artest, Part 1

[Karma]

Brian Windhorst Blog

Anyone who has read me for awhile or heard me expound on the radio or TV knows that I'm a big Ron Artest fan. I flat out think he's one of the 10 best players in the NBA. I don't care about the brawl or the record label or all the flagrant fouls. (By the way, that picture is Mike Brown trying to peel Artest off that fan in Detroit last year). This is why I could never be an NBA general manager, because I would be tempted to forget about character when it came to getting talent. I'd trade for Artest in a heartbeat. In fact, the day after he was suspended last season I called Jim Paxson and asked him if there was any way the Cavs could trade for him. He set me straight.

Anyway, the point is I'm very much looking forward to seeing how LeBron handles Artest tomorrow night. The Cavs haven't won in Indy in three years and last year they were embarrassed twice in there. I'm sure this game means a lot to Brown and it is a great test to see where the Cavs stand. It really doesn't matter who wins at this point, it is how the Cavs play. Which is why it's worth watching Artest and LBJ.

When LeBron was a rookie, the only guy that got to him was Artest. He was rough, he was physical and he shut him down. They only got to play once last season, in the opener and it was a great two-overtime affair. LeBron is better, stronger, and more respected by officials now and the stakes are higher so I'm probably not going to take my eyes off those two much.

I see rivalries with LeBron and Andre Igoudala of the Sixers, Andres Noiconi of the Bulls, Ricky Davis of course, developing. But none of these will be more important than his matchup with Artest because the Cavs will eventually have to beat Indiana to do anything meaningful long term. Same goes for Detroit, of course, but I think the Cavs are built for the longer haul right now. In basketball terms, tomorrow night will be a big-time heat-check.

Brian's Blog

 

[Pioneer10]

Lebron had more trouble with Stephen Jackson then Artest last year

 

[weezleheat712]

Yeah I cant wait for this game Ive been hearing a lot of talk about LB and Ron got the same kinda game...Im want to see LB go at Ron all 48min.....

 

[FlyerTE]

I'm thankful that we now have someone that can score if Artest does shut down James...Larry Hughes.

 

[Randolphkeys]

Mike Brown knows this ballclub very well... he is a coach who looks to exploit an opponents weaknesses, and no one outsie Indianapolis should know the Pacers weaknesses as well as Mike Brown.

Now that Stephen Jackson is playing shooting guard, they have very dangerous two-way players with size at the swingman positions. We have the superior ball-handlers, but Artest is fearless on drives and Jackson can get hot from outside. We need to be cautious rotating on defense, because you don't want Jackson to kill you from the outside.

Jermaine has been very inconsistent so far this season, possibly because tough guy Jeff Foster has been replaced by two guys who haven't been consequential for about three years (Croshere and Pollard). You never know which O'Neal is going to show up... he has had some nights where he turns the ball over about as many times as he rebounds, but you always know he can have a 40 point and 20 rebound night if he starts feeling it.

The untold subplot is Jasikevicius... he obviously came very close to joining the Cavs. Damon is having the better season so far, but despite some struggles with getting used to the new three point line, Sarunas has been servicable in Indy.

 

[WildThing]

Who was Mike Brown coaching for last year?

Kinda curious as to what his coaching backround is.

 

[RuanuLaw]

Assistant Coach for the Pacers.

 

[cdt]

And previous to that he worked with the Spurs, he is from a first class backround. He worked with Duncan Bowen and Artest..some gooooood defenders.

 

[RuanuLaw]

Ya, no doubt. Brown has a really rich background.

 

[fsqp13]

I'm thankful that we now have someone that can score if Artest does shut down James...Larry Hughes.

if artest attempts to shut down james, dump in to hughes and fling it back to lbj for an in-your-face-ron move

 

[Glen Infante]

Winner of matchup 1, Ron Artest.

He completly took LeBron out of his game. It's going to be scary to see a playoff matchup between the Cavs and the Pacers. I believe that Ron is LeBron's kryponite.

 

[LyXo]

Ron Artest is a complete beast. LeBron is chiseled.... at 6'8 240. Ron Artest is a tank at 6'8 260. And he's very quick in defense. The kryptonite? Perhaps. But the Cavs are a team, and the Cavs as a team lost today. Had anyone else stepped up to take the pressure off of LeBron, we would have done better, but there was nothing.

 

[Pioneer10]

It's not so much Artest as it is the Pacers. They slow it down and each of there guys are always in the right position on defense. If it isn't Artest it's Jackson another big physical defender on Lebron. It's a tough team with a lot of depth.

The biggest thing though is that we weren't in the Q. This team for whatever reason seems to come out flat and not have nearly enought energy on the floor when playing on the road

 

[bomber]

I'm sorry but Lebron didn't nor does get shut down by artest period. Top tier players in this league don't get shut down, slowed maybe. Lebron was off, he missed shots. He cannot be stopped. As a player you think no one can stop you and basicly they can't, especially if you're lebron james.

For lebron's career he avgs 25 ppg and shoots 50% against Artest.

If Artest really shuts down lebron and is his kryptonite wouldn't you think he would be able to hold him under his career scoring avg of 24.4?

I knew we would lose this game but not with this effort and by this margin. Indiana is an elite team in the east and we obviously aren't, which is expected right now. Looks like on the road vs elite teams we have no chance. I just wish these type of games would be closer. After seeing the 3pt spread on this game this morning I knew we were done, I figured it should be 7.

 

[KI4MVP]

LeBron started 0-8. He shot 6-12 the rest of the way. He also had a double double with 5 steals. He was also doing the things late in the 3rd quarter to get us back into the game, but we couldn't get the stops. LeBron even got a few stops himself, including forcing O'Neal to travel. But other guys couldn't get a stop, and then they went crazy from 3, putting the game out of reach. Get some stops and we could have put a run together.

when the Pistons go to Dallas and get blown off of the court by 32 points, nobody considers it a fatal flaw for them. A loss like this from time to time early is good for the team - reminds us how much more we have to go.

it's still early in the mike brown era - if we're still consistently getting blown off the court in april, we have a problem. Right now the goal is to keep us close to .500 on the road and dominate at home. Then pick it up on the road the 2nd half of the season.

Going into the season, how many people here had us at 9-3 right now? I had us at 7-5 myself. The question isn't are we going to lose some games, the question is, how do we respond.